Why New Year’s Resolutions Rarely Stick (And Why That’s Not a Personal Failure)

Every January, we’re told it’s time to start fresh.

New goals. New habits. New versions of ourselves.

But I’ve noticed something that doesn’t quite sit right, especially living in Australia.

January isn’t a quiet, reflective beginning here.

It’s the middle of summer.

The heat is intense. The days are long. Families are stretched. Nervous systems are already running hot. And yet, we ask ourselves to push harder, restructure our lives, and commit to major changes, right when our bodies are craving rest, presence, and ease.

It’s no wonder so many New Year’s resolutions quietly fall apart by autumn.

The Problem Isn’t Discipline… It’s Seasonality

We often frame “failed” resolutions as a lack of willpower or motivation. But what if that story is wrong?

What if the real issue is that we’re trying to initiate massive change during the most energetically demanding season of the year?

In nature, summer isn’t the time for planting new seeds.

It’s the time of growth, fullness, and maintenance. Things are already in motion. Energy is being used, not stored.

Asking ourselves to reinvent our lives in the height of summer is a bit like planting seedlings in scorching heat and then blaming the soil when they don’t survive.

Summer Asks Us to Inhabit, Not Reinvent

Summer doesn’t ask:

• Who should I become?

• What do I need to fix about myself?

It asks:

• Can you live inside your life as it is?

• Can you tend what’s already growing?

• Can you be present without constantly improving yourself?

There’s wisdom in allowing the year to unfold before demanding clarity or transformation.

Burnout Isn’t Failure… It’s a Signal

By the time winter arrives, many people feel exhausted and defeated. The narrative becomes: “I didn’t stick to it. I must be the problem.”

But what if burnout is simply the body saying:

I was never meant to sprint through summer.

Winter is the season that naturally supports reflection, restructuring, and deep change. It’s when the world quiets. When energy turns inward. When honesty becomes possible.

Change that begins in winter has roots.

Change forced in summer often doesn’t.

A Gentler Way to Meet the Year

Instead of resolutions, what if we began the year with something softer?

Not a plan.

Not a promise.

Just awareness.

Questions like:

• What am I already carrying?

• What feels ripe, not forced?

• What can wait until the season supports it?

This isn’t about giving up on growth.

It’s about aligning growth with rhythm, personal, seasonal, and ecological.

You’re Not Behind

If you’ve ever felt like you “failed” at the New Year before it even really began, please know this:

You weren’t lazy.

You weren’t uncommitted.

You weren’t broken.

You were human, living in a body that responds to seasons, even when culture forgets they exist.

Sometimes the most radical thing we can do is rest, observe, and wait for the right moment to begin.

And sometimes… that moment isn’t January at all.